Judges 18:30

And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
children	בְּנֵי be.nei-	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Dan	דָ֖ן dan	H1835	Dan · proper noun, a place name
up	וַיָּקִ֧ימוּ vai.ya.Ki.mu	H6965	to rise (in various applications · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
image	הַפָּ֑סֶל ha.Pa.sel	H6459	an idol · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Jonathan	וִ֠יהוֹנָתָן Vi.ho.na.ton	H3083	Jehonathan · conjunction + proper noun, a man's name
son	בֶּן ben-	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct
Gershom	גֵּרְשֹׁ֨ם ge.re.Shom	H1647	Gereshom · proper noun, a man's name
son	בֶּן ben-	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct
Manasseh	מְנַשֶּׁ֜ה me.na.Sheh	H4519	Menashsheh · proper noun, a man's name
sons	וּבָנָ֗יו u.va.Nav	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
priests	כֹהֲנִים֙ kho.ha.Nim	H3548	literally one officiating · noun, common masculine plural absolute
tribe	לְשֵׁ֣בֶט le.She.vet	H7626	a scion · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
Dan	הַדָּנִ֔י ha.da.Ni	H1839	a Danite (often collectively) or descendants (or inhabi… · definite article + noun, gentilic masculine singular absolute
day	י֖וֹם Yom	H3117	a day (as the warm hours) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
captivity	גְּל֥וֹת ge.Lot	H1540	to denude (especially in a disgraceful sense) · verb, qal infinitive construct
land	הָאָֽרֶץ ha.'A.retz	H776	the earth (at large · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Exodus 2:22 And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land.
1 Samuel 4:10-11 And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there f…
Deuteronomy 31:29 For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will bef…
Judges 13:1 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years…
Judges 17:3 And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the LOR…
Judges 17:5 And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.
1 Samuel 4:2-3 And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel: and when they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the Philistines: and they…
Psalms 78:60-62 So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men;

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 18:27–end

Here is, I. Laish conquered by the Danites. They proceeded on their march, and, because they met with no disaster, perhaps concluded they had not done amiss in robbing Micah. Many justify themselves in their impiety by their prosperity. Observe, 1. What posture they found the people of Laish in, both those of the city and those of the country about. They were quiet and secure, not jealous of the five spies that had been among them to search out the land, nor had they any intelligence of the approach of this enemy, which made them a very easy prey to this little handful of men that came upon them, Jdg 18:27. Note, Many are brought to destruction by their security. Satan gets advantage against…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 18:30

THEY SET UP IDOLATRY. (Jdg 18:30-31) the children of Dan set up the graven image--Their distance secluded them from the rest of the Israelites, and doubtless this, which was their apology for not going to Shiloh, was the cause of perpetuating idolatry among them for many generations. Next: Judges Chapter 19

John Gill on Judges 18:30

And the children of Dan set up the graven image,.... In their new city Dan, and very probably had a house built for it, peculiar to it, in the same place where Jeroboam, in later times, set up one of his golden calves. The Danites having succeeded, according to the oracle in Micah's house, they had a very great veneration for the images they brought away with them from thence, and set them up for religious worship in a proper place; for though only mention is made of the graven image, yet no doubt the molten image, and the teraphim, with the ephod, were all placed together for devotion and consultation: and Jonathan the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to th…

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Keil & Delitzsch on Judges 18:30–end

Establishment of the Image-worship in Dan. - After the rebuilding of Laish under the name of Dan, the Danites set up the pesel or image of Jehovah, which they had taken with them out of Micah's house of God. "And Jehonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites till the day of the captivity of the land." As the Danites had taken the Levite whom Micah had engaged for his private worship with them to Dan, and had promised him the priesthood (Jdg 18:19 and Jdg 18:27), Jehonathan can hardly be any other than this Levite. He was a son of Gershom, the son of Moses (Exo 2:22; Exo 18:3; Ch1 23:14-15). Instead of בּן־משׁה, our Masoretic text h…

Dictionary and topics

Dan — A judge. (1.) The fifth son of Jacob. His mother was Bilhah, Rachel’s maid (Gen. 30:6, “God hath judged me”, Heb. dananni). The blessing pronounced on him by his father was, “Dan shall judge his…
Gershom — Expulsion. (1.) The eldest son of Levi (1 Chr. 6:16, 17, 20, 43, 62, 71; 15:7)=GERSHON (q.v.). (2.) The elder of the two sons of Moses born to him in Midian (Ex. 2:22; 18:3). On his way to Egypt with…
Jonathan — Whom Jehovah gave, the name of fifteen or more persons that are mentioned in Scripture. The chief of these are, (1.) A Levite descended from Gershom (Judg. 18:30). His history is recorded in 17:7-13…
Manasseh — Who makes to forget. “God hath made me forget” (Heb. nashshani), Gen. 41:51. (1.) The elder of the two sons of Joseph. He and his brother Ephraim were afterwards adopted by Jacob as his own sons…
Micah — A shortened form of Micaiah, who is like Jehovah? (1.) A man of Mount Ephraim, whose history so far is introduced in Judg. 17, apparently for the purpose of leading to an account of the settlement of…
Solomon — Peaceful, (Heb. Shelomoh), David’s second son by Bathsheba, i.e., the first after their legal marriage (2 Sam. 12). He was probably born about B.C. 1035 (1 Chr. 22:5; 29:1). He succeeded his father…
Teraphim — Givers of prosperity, idols in human shape, large or small, analogous to the images of ancestors which were revered by the Romans. In order to deceive the guards sent by Saul to seize David, Michal…
Dan, The Tribe Of · A part of: Set up Micah’s idols in Dan — A part of: Set up Micah’s idols in Dan
Gershom · 4. A Levite — 4. A Levite
Jonathan · idolatry; joins the Danites — idolatry; joins the Danites

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 18:27–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 18:30

John Gill on Judges 18:30

Keil & Delitzsch on Judges 18:30–end

Dictionary and topics

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 18:27–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 18:30

John Gill on Judges 18:30

Keil & Delitzsch on Judges 18:30–end

Dictionary and topics

Rashi on Judges 18:30